Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket were tops for Thailand hotel sales last year

More than 10 hotels and hospitality assets were sold in Bangkok and major provincial destinations last year, according to the latest figures from JLL. (The company brokered five of those assets.) 

Hotel transactions in Bangkok accounted for an estimated 50 percent of the full volume for 2016. Some major deals in the city included the sales of Eight Thonglor (including the former Pan Pacific Residences, since rebranded as Akyra Thonglor), Liberty Garden Hotel and Park 24 Condominium in Sukhumvit, which will be rebranded and managed as serviced apartments by Ascott.

Other solid hotspots for hotel transactions were the tourist hubs of Pattaya, Phuket, Phang Nga, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Chiang Rai. 

At the same time, investment volume declined by 15 percent from 2015 to Bt9.6 billion because of the lack of large assets available. For this year, the Bt10.8-billion sale of Swissotel Nai Lert Park is scheduled for conclusion.

“Investment appetite by both local and foreign investors in Thailand’s hospitality market has [shown] no signs of subsiding as these investors have remained upbeat on long-term fundamentals in this ever-resilient market,” Mike Batchelor, managing director of investment sales in Asia for JLL told Nation Multimedia.

Notably, most of the hotel deals last year were domestic—but institutional investors from Hong Kong and Singapore were also active purchasers, accounting for around 45 percent of the total transaction volume. “More Asian corporates are looking to place large capital reserves into alternative investment classes in some of Thailand’s real-estate sectors that enjoy healthy trading performance and returns,” Batchelor said. 

“Buoyed by strong long-term growth prospects for the country’s tourism industry, some of these corporates have [shown] keen interest in the hospitality sector, as evidenced from strong levels of bids for some of sought-after hotel assets currently offered for sale in Thailand.”